lördag, maj 30, 2009

LITCHI time...

One of the many things I will miss when I return to Sweden is all the different fruit You find here in China.

Now it is the season for one of my favorites - lichi!















The lichi is of a size as a walnut, with a thin, frail shell and a transparent flesh that is fresh and acid. Inside there is a hard, black seed that You not eat.

Have been grown in China for many thousand years. For a long time it was forbidden for common people and only the emperor and his family was allowed to eat it. One of the emperors mistresses requested that lichi should be transported thousand of kilometers across China just to please her. Since that, the lichi is considered as a symbol for romance and family happiness.















Another of my favorites is yangmei (Chinese Bayberry). This is a subtropical tree grown for its sweet, crimson to dark purple-red, edable fruit.
In China mostly growing south of the Yangtze River.
The fruit is spherical, 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter, with a knobby surface. The flesh color is similar to surface color, or somewhat lighter. It is sweet and very tart
.